Cove's Edge, Maine

COVE'S EDGE, MAINE

COVE'S EDGE, MAINE
8x8, unframed oil on gessobord
plein air painting
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For two glorious weeks I rented a cottage in Cushing, Maine.
This was my view from the lawn of the cottage
I found it glorious and painted on the property several times.
Floating in the water is Rockweed
which
at low tide
 one can clearly see is attached to the rocks.

Cushing Peninsula is the peninsula on which the Olson House is located
that very site of Andrew Wyeth's most famous painting
CHRISTINA'S WORLD

Across this cove from my cottage and this painting
is the home of Andrew Wyeth...one of his homes

  Andrew died in 2009
and is buried in the Olson family cemetery.
Why did he choose this spot?
No one knows for sure but we can say for sure
he loved and painted the Olson House
and its occupants
 for many many summers.

Andrew's gravestone
exactly as he years previously had pictured it
as Christina's stone!!!!

Christina and her brother Alvaro Olson's gravestone.
The two siblings died within mere weeks of one another
in different years

The Olson House
Cushing, Maine

Wyeth House, Monhegan Island

Wyeth House, Monhegan Island

Wyeth House, Monhegan Island
8x8, unframed, oil on gessobord
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This house was built in 1906 for famous painter Rockwell Kent.  Following Kent's death, Jamie Wyeth bought this beautiful coastal home.  It overlooks Lobster Cove in the Gulf of Maine.  The beginnings of the art colony on Monhegan Island, located 12 miles off the mainland, date to the mid 19th century and was firmly established by 1890.

I felt honored to carry a very heavy load of painting gear to this site, not knowing at the time I was painting a famed artist's home.  It just appealed to me.

Maine light is very high key.  Often the value of the sky is almost the same as that of the water.  Imagine the difference for me as compared to my home in NM where one almost never sees the effect of humidity in the air.

Lobster Cove on Monhegan Island

Rockwell Kent, Jamie Wyeth house on Monhegan Island

Village of Monhegan Island

Monhegan Island Light

SAILBOARDS ASHORE

SAILBOARDS ASHORE

Sailboards Ashore
Oil on canvas covered cradled board, FRAMED
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Many years ago I had a time of my life windsurfing off Kihei, Maui, Hawaii.
I was a pro.

Just a few years later I went windsurfing off the coast of
Cozumel, Mexico and for the life of me couldn't catch the wind
without
dumping myself in the water.

What happened?

It is just as well these sailboards are parked
on the white sand beach
in Perdido Key, Florida

A younger sister lives in Florida
Maybe she will help me relearn this skill?????

VENTURA HARBOR IV

VENTURA HARBOR IV

VENTURA HARBOR IV
12x12 oil on gessobord
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Besides painting en plein air in Ventura I also took many photographs so that once I returned home to New Mexico I could continue to paint the boats, water, harbor, and buildings.  I got a very good sense of the setting, could smell the salt water and feel the humidity so missing here at home.

I love the color the paddle and surf boards, flags and canvas sail covers add to the scene.  Adjacent to the building, there are many umbrellas under which to enjoy a fish sandwich or a spicy Mexican meal.

If you haven't been to Ventura you would be missing something.  There are quaint shops, hotels, restaurants and even a weekly flea market.  Ventura is fairly quiet with not a lot of traffic, my kind of place.

AT REST

AT REST

At Rest
6x8 FRAMED oil on canvas
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Framed with black frame outside measurement 11x13", charming boat painting of two dinghies at rest in a harbor.

I continue to be on a roll with water, boats, harbors, and seascapes.  My heart is on the coast where I will soon spend two weeks plein air painting in Andrew Wyeth country in Maine.  I want to smell the salt water, to study boats more in depth, to understand coastal industries and to eat fresh fish daily.

Harbor Sunrise

HARBOR SUNRISE

HARBOR SUNRISE
10x10 unframed oil on museum quality board
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Painting boats, ships, harbors, ocean, and water is a favorite genre of mine. A few years ago I was in Ogunquit, Maine at Perkins Cove. Ogunquit has a sandy beach, and more than a mile of picturesque rocky shore. It is a popular place for artists. I recommend the Barn Gallery there.

IN THE HARBOR

IN THE HARBOR

IN THE HARBOR
8x8 oil, unframed, palette knife
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I am thinking boats, harbors, lobstermen, fishermen, fish markets, waves
and
my summer trip to Maine

This painting is textural with thick paint layered on with a palette knife.
It is suitable for framing and looks best in a floater frame
but you can also display this on a beautiful tabletop easel

ON MY WAY...motoring out

ON MY WAY

On My Way
12x12 oil on gessobord
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There are definitely many sides of me in many areas
palette knife and brush
 desert, Europe, flowers, street scenes, buildings, architecture
still life, landscape, seascape, interiors
impresionistic, alla prima
studio artist and plein air artist


I cannot be put in a box in terms of subject matter
The world is too full of magnificent beauty

So paint I must
and
travel I must


Two more trip in 2014
two weeks each
Maine and France

MOTIF NO. 1 ROCKPORT, MA

MOTIF NO. 1  ROCKPORT, MA

8X8 oil on gessobord
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You may wonder about the title but if you are an art aficionado, you need read no further.  Starting in the 19th century, Cape Ann, which includes Rockport, Gloucester and other quaint towns, has been host to many of the very best, most celebrated artists in America.  A few of those include the great Winslow Homer; impressionists Childe Hassam and John H. Twachtman; and modernists Edward Hopper and Marsden Hartley.

Perhaps the best symbol of the legacy created by the migration of artists might be the small red lobstermen's shack located at the end of a wharf in Rockport, built around the time of the Civil War.  I painted the "shack" as it looks today, but in the 19th century only the right end comprised the building.

In the early 1930's, while critiquing a group of students' paintings, several of which featured the little red shack, Lester Hornby, using a term often employed by French students to describe frequently painted sites,  exclaimed, "What---Motif No.1  again!"  His fateful words stuck and since then the little red shack has been referred to as "Motif No. 1"

Seascapes are very appealing to me and recently I have painted several.  I will soon post them here. Many more will come as I count down the months until I can spend two weeks in coastal Maine, Andrew Wyeth country.

I am proud of this painting: VENTURA HARBOR I

VENTURA HARBOR I

12x12 oil on gessobord
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I love coastal living but here I am in
the beautiful desert of
New Mexico

Within one month I have attended two workshops: one with Leslie Saeta and the other with Dreama Tolle Perry.  Their style of painting couldn't be much different, yet I love them both, style and subject matter.

I painted "VENTURA HARBOR I" with Leslie, en plein air, palette knife only.  We were set up so that the sun was not a bother.  Leslie uses a limited palette of five colors plus white:  Cad Yellow Med, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Green and Sap Green.  On the day we painted the ocean color didn't demand use of Phthalo Green though I have seen it used in many paintings, especially in the ocean paintings of Sorolla I recently saw in Dallas.  The colors I used to get the above ocean color were Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue (for a bit of purple), Sap Green and Cad Yellow Medium.

Yes, I am in love with harbor scenes and boats.  My Pinterest website has a board of gorgeous ship, harbor and ocean paintings.  You really should see it here.  My plan is to continue this thread of painting and I have already scheduled two weeks of painting in Maine, in Andrew Wyeth country near Rockland.

A photo of what I was seeing in Ventura Harbor
You can see I zoomed in and greatly simplified my painting.

VENTURA HARBOR III

PAINTING HARBORS AND BOATS

VENTURA HARBOR III
9x12 oil on canvas covered cradled board
Palette Knife Painting
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After my very recent trip to Ventura, CA, I have completely fallen in love with

PAINTING BOATS AND HARBORS
A few years ago I spent a week in Maine at York Beach getting salt in my blood.
I can't stay away from the ocean at the moment,
 nor studying famous seascape artists,
 so I have decided to return to Maine again in July, this time for two weeks.
 Of course there will be time for sightseeing,
but my main purpose this time is more painting than vacationing.

To see many awesome painting in one place
click here to view my Pinterest board on Ships, Boats and Harbors.
Click here to view my board of Seascape Paintings on Pinterest.